Hell's War in Heaven
by bleachlover20053
Summary: Travel back in time before the events of Darker than BlACK as Heaven declares its war on the Contractors. Who among them will survive?
1. Chapter 1

"It's him! Get the Reaper!"

"Don't let him get away!"

The voices sound distant as I'm running through the dense trees of the rainforest. The night air is cool and damp, sticking to my lungs as I run from my pursuers. The rotting stench of the Gate leaves a dead flavour in my mouth as I gasp for air.

"There, I see him!"

The voices are closing in on me.

"Hei! Are you near the rendezvous?" the squad leader's voice reaches through an ear piece that is half loose.

"Almost, but I have few on my tail, closing in," I reply as I continue to dash through the dark forest.

"Can you make it?"

"I will."

"Alright, come back in one piece," the assurance in her voice tells me that the last part could be treated as a joke.

"Roger," the communication comes to an end.

The clearing comes in to view as I pass the last inch of the forest and enter a river. The warm, tropical water envelop me as I submerge into its depths. The distance across is about a hundred feet, less than thirty second swim if not for the current. The violent pressure is starting to sweep me away, making me use every last bit of energy I have and resurface.

"Shit he's in the waters!"

Coming up for air seems to have been my downfall. I swim faster, not bothering to go down. Gunshots roar through the air as they aim their shots at me. Bullets glaze by, missing only by inches. I am but a few feet away from the shore when a piercing pain makes my left leg immobile. The water is being dyed red and I can see from the corner of my eyes that a few of them have entered the river.

I can no longer swim; only stay afloat while the flow of the river sweeps me away. Using whatever strength I have left, my arm desperately throws the metal wires. The drifting stop as the wires grapple on to the tree branch on the shore, but I have lost too much blood and the consciousness is fading away.

"Looks like he is unconscious."

My vision is blurry but I can see that they are nearby. The tension on my arm releases and I can no longer feel the current trying to sweep me away. Faint blue light captivates my seeping eyesight. Synchrotron light; a Contractor is using an ability. The water around me starts to becomes thick/ The substance did not change, the taste is still that of a river water, but it has turned syrup like in texture.

"Hurry up and finish, I can't hold this much for a long time," the words are coming from the direction of the azure light.

"Don't worry, this guy is not going anywhere," the second one mocks me as he punches me in the solar plexus.

Another one grabs a wad of my hair pulls it towards his face, "Look, the so feared Grim Reaper is nothing but a boy," the stench of his breath is repulsing.

"I wonder if the rumour about him being powerless is true."

"Hey," the man yanks my hair harder and I wince in pain, "Are you really the feared hunter, Black Grim Reaper? So how are you going to kill us? Aren't you supposed to take our souls?"

"Souls? Kill?" I smile at their stupid comments as I slightly tug on the metal cable, "I am the messenger of death, it is not my job to kill, only to collect. Captain, it's time."

I pull on the cable once more, and the built in motor winds the cables in a blinding speed, propelling me out of the water.

"Shit, get him!" Bullets are flaring past me once more, but this time none of them hits. All of their attentions are on me, the distraction, and not on the girl who is standing on the shore, just a few feet away from them. Her short black hair transcends the night sky and her lucid eyes stare blankly at her targets. Translucent light surround her child like body, followed by a crackling sound. The girl leaves the water and lies down on the grassy land, dreaming away, while the river reverts back and swallows the three bodies that ceased to function.

I am dangling on the tree branch, blood running down my leg, and my consciousness continues to countdown towards its inevitable zero. My chest is tightening up and breathing is difficult. The night air is warm but I am freezing. The pain in my arm transforms into slumbering numbness. Before I close my eyes and sleep, I can see her running towards me. I can't see her face clearly, but her emerald green hair is all the clarification that I need.

"Hei! Hei!" she is calling out to me, but I cannot answer her back. She reaches for the knife on my pack, and struggles to cut the wires. Her struggles are not met in vain, as I can feel my self descend slowly to the ground, supported by her thin arms.

"How is Bai?" I speak the first thing that comes to mind.

"She's alright, the guys from the squad are looking after now," she speaks softly as she strokes my hair back. I feel warm moisture dripping on my face, and the warmth of her hand feels nice on my frozen face. "Just hold on Hei, we will get you treatment as soon as possible."

"Thanks for looking after her," I smile at her with the last of my strength, "Amber."


	2. Chapter 2

"Brother! Brother, look at the falling stars?"

The familiar voice of a little girl calls out to me and I smile back at her. Her short black hair sways with the midnight breeze, while I peer through my telescope towards the starry heavens. The sky is filled with the brilliance of the stars, millions shining down upon us.

"They're called shooting stars," I explain to her while looking at the trail of fire leaves its distinct marks on the night sky, "they're not actually stars, just dense ice and rock that have entered the Earth's atmosphere."

"Why are the stars falling brother?"

"It's because of the Earth's gravitational pull -," as I'm about to pat her head, I notice that she is no longer standing beside me; she is out of my field of vision.

"Why are the stars falling brother?" the voice is coming from behind me, but it's a little different from before.

"Geez, stop kidding around-," I was about to scold her, but the image in front of me makes me stop dead cold in my tracks.

Her gaze is unfaltering as she stands on mountain of corpses as the stars fall by the hundreds. The childish image of the girl is gone, only to be replaced by the stale air of an apathetic machine.

"Won't you tell me why, brother?" she persistently asks the same question.

But before I can answer her, I am absorbed by the blinding light of the falling stars as they make their crash course towards me…

…

"Hei," a gentle voice awakens me from my slumber, "how are you feeling?"

I shake my head a little as I raise my stiff body up from the pseudo bed made of layers of blankets. I can feel a strange sense of numbness from every corner of my body. Like a beat down athlete, I slap my face a several times to shake off the feeling of nothingness. It stings a bit, but the sense of pain brings feeling of liveliness back into my non-functioning physique.

"How's Bai?" I ask the first thing that pops into my stabilizing mind.

I turn my head towards my benefactor. She has a mix look of anxiety and relief which off sets her usual gung ho personality, but her queer facial expression relaxes as she opens her mouth, "She is fine, completely uninjured; 100% ready to go."

"I see," I let out a smile of relief for a bit, and then revert back to my usual self as well. Using my arms, I attempt getting up to my feet but the stress on my leg sends a streak of fire like pain. My arms give out and as I am about to fall, her frail arms prevents the straight crash towards the hard floor.

Holding my weak body in her arms, she gently places me back on the bed. She appears a few years older than me and she always acts spoiled, but why does she seem so motherly at times like these?

"You should rest," she says, placing a blanket over my torso.

"Thank you, captain."

She flips her long, emerald hair back while her amber eyes continues to look at me with a look of kindness.

"Won't you call me by my name, at least when we are by ourselves?" she asks her plea while holding my hand tight to her chest. Her bosom starts to warm up my icy grasps, finally dispelling the numbness out of me.

"I cannot do that," I face away from her and retake my hand to my own, "as long as we remain a soldier and superior, that is a line I will not cross."

"But you said my name before you went unconscious," she retorts.

"That was due to bad judgement during crisis, it was unprofessional of me," I retort back.

She is not talking, only her sullen eyes are on me now. I turn back around, stroke her soft cheeks with my finger tips, and smile at her, which she replies back with a smile of her own. Her smile, her warmth, everything about her feels genuine; almost enough for me to believe that she is not the indifferent killers known as contractors. Amber, even her name carries the touch of humanly affection to it.

"Hei, how are the injuries?" someone says from behind Amber.

The one to cut our moment of indulgence short is a girl few years younger than me. She has the identical onyx hair as me but her eyes are dull, as if has faced death multiple times. She is in her military fit, black jumper as she gazes down at me with those eyes.

"There is no problem, I'll be able to move in a day or two," I reply while signalling Amber to leave us alone for a minute.

She reluctantly gets up, her face downcast and brushes past Bai. Taking her leave as a signal, Bai approaches my bedside and sits down next to me. She leans her head against my bed while I stroke her short black hair.

"62," she says as she starts to doze off.

"Have you been counting again?"

She nods in response, "62 stars fell tonight."

"It's okay," I continue to stroke her head as she embraces her slumber, "no more stars will gall tonight."

And so, the young contractor known as Bai falls asleep in my bedside. She is a cold, teen killer without a shred of humanity yet at the same time she is the embodiment of naïve innocence. Only her sleeping face reminds me that she was once human. No, she is still human, and she will always be my little sister.


	3. Chapter 3

Log Entry – No.1

With the incident of Izanami and Izanagi coming to conclusion, without bearing any fruit, the world returned to its sorry state as if nothing happened. CIA quickly took over all operations concerning Contractors, and once again Japan prostrated to the power of United States of America, thus marking the end of Section 3 and all other operatives. It is not just CIA that has begun to move. Russia, Germany, China, United Kingdom, France, Korea, Australia, and many other powers have started mass scouting for Contractors, as well as investigation of the new Gate that suddenly appeared in Antarctica. With sudden shift of powers, citizens began to question the existence of Contractors, which many believed, to some point, to be nothing more than a myth.

The course the world takes seems so trivial to me at the moment, as I continue my search for BK-201. No longer bound by civil duties and obligation, I am attempting to uncover the past of subject BK-201, alias: Hei. His files are full of blanks, unanswered spaces that tell no story of his origin, even the information provided from his former colleague, alias: Mao, is limited to past missions. In search of answers, I have successfully bypassed series of government firewalls, and accessed the old Section 3 mainframe. It was there, that I discovered the audio diary of the leader of Evening Primrose, UB-001.

UB-001 (formerly known as February within MI6, and later adopted the alias: Amber) created a series of recordings under false headings, that revealed much of the future through foresight and recorded the series of past events. One of such events includes the mission she took part in the Heaven's War that took place in South America. At once discovering the file _Soirée Rose,_ I could not believe the minor details that were depicted in her words, as if I was meant for me to find. UB-001's diary included much information not only on the war that took place in Heaven's Gate, but also about BK-201 (the original, alias: Bai) and her brother who held the title as the greatest killer, "The Black Grim Reaper."

Due to this discovery, I have decided to postpone my direct search for the current BK-201, and start gathering more information that were left behind by UB-001 in various locations. The following passages will be in dedication to the Contractors that were sent to their graves by the "Syndicate." The tales that were silenced from history, the vain deaths of men, women, and children – I wish to someday tell the world truth that only a select few know. Contractors, Dolls, Moratoriums. I am in pursuit of a dream where society can accept the existence of these unique individuals, and come to understand that above all, we are all human beings. I am, however, but a single woman attempting to accomplish changing the minds of billions. There is not much I can do, but become the conductor that must organize this compilation of tales.

This, I believe, is the first step I must take in order to come closer to him. I shall read all, experience all, and record all, so that generations to come will understand from time and time again the treasure known as life.

Kirihara Misaki

_Her wild, untamed hair burned with the fiery colors of the early spilt blood…_


	4. Chapter 4

_Her wild, untamed hair burned with the fiery colors of the early spilt blood. Her jade eyes revealed nothing about her, a walking enigma. Every step she took created wet sounds of blood and earth mixing together. __The Crimson Vampire had come, to create Havoc and bring rain of corpse._

_-Soirée Rose, 20_

_I have been keeping track of time, in this world where laws of physics mean nothing. I do it to keep record of the events in this place, if not just to maintain my sanity by performing mundane tasks. In this world of eternal night, the only thing definite is the number of stars that occupy the darkness. One star, one life- each star representing a life of an emotionless killer such as me. Yet the difference between me and them is that no one will know of my death, for no star will fall for the Grim Reaper. _

"Hei," Bai's voice calls me back from my train of thoughts. She is standing behind me, looking apathetic as always. Often, in the past, when something was worrying Bai, she would remain silently behind me, hoping for me to notice it. While I should be happy some part of her humanity remains, I cannot feel a glimpse of warmth welling up within me.

"What is it?" I ask, turning back around, my hands busy with checking the equipment. As a human, I have to rely on them for my kills. For me, these tools are my life; when they die then so do I. I guess, that makes me nothing but a tool as well.

She says nothing, but that already says everything to me. _Don't you dare do that to me with my sister's face. _I tighten my fists. _What are you saying? _I bite onto my lower lip, with enough pressure to rip through the skin. _She is a Contractor, she's no longer human; she is nothing but a killer. _

_How are you any different?_

"It's time to go," she quickly turns her back to me and walks out of the tent. My hands are busy, or at least I pretend to pack my equipment, and just nod my head in acknowledgement.

"I'm sorry, onii-chan."

I don't see her turning back and the whispers she spoke.

The mist had settled in by the time our group departed from the campsite. We are cutting through uncharted parts of the Gate, a dangerous and foolish choice, but it was estimated to be the quickest route tot the rendezvous point. I hang my head in shame. If it were not for my hasty plan and the week of recovery, we would not have to worry about making it on time. Even worse, the responsibility will fall on the team leader. _Amber, I'm sorry. _Lately the only thing I could do was killing or apologizes - never to anyone, only towards myself.

The path we take is filled with mud, swamp, vines – a brown forest of nothingness – with not a single ant on the ground or a bird flying in the night air. Sixteen hours pass without mercy, buffeting me and the rest of the team with fatigue. My legs begin to buckle, as I support both the weight of the tools and Bai on my back. She was never the athletic type, so the hike was beyond her capabilities. I take a step forward, not noticing the soft, slippery surface of the muddy puddle. _Splash._ I land on my knees, completely out of breath, as I endure the impact traveling from the knee caps to all the way to the shoulders.

I can feel Amber approaching from behind. Her soft touch would release me of my pain, and a single word from her will grant me time to recover. But I cannot do that.

"Please," I tell her, my head hung, "just go on. Find a suitable camping spot. I will catch up eventually, so please, just keep walking."

"Hei," Amber protest.

"GO!" _I'm sorry Amber, but please just go. _During a mission, if a comrade falls and hinders the operation, the rule was to abandon them. She had already disobeyed that law once, there is no way I can make her break it again.

"I could have someone else take Bai at least."

"No," I reply, "she's my responsibility. I will bear this weight, not because I have to, but because I want to. Besides she's sleeping, she'll wake up if we moved her. So please, go on ahead, and save me some dignity."

After a few seconds I see her figure passing through the forest, leaving Bai and myself behind. I tried to stand up, only to have gravity pull me down once more, this time even closer towards its filthy surface. I try once more, only to get the same result. Each attempt drains more energy than I can expand, eventually to the point I am prostrating to the limits set on my body. My breathing is getting thicker by the breath and making me want to puke.

"Hei, I can walk now," Bai says so from my back. She must have woken up during one of my failed attempts.

"It's alright, I can manage," I lie. That's right, I forgot, there are only three things I can do now: apologize, kill, and lie. A trash that could not become a Contractor. That is what I have become. I force these emotions to my legs, lifting both Bai and I off this spiteful earth.

"Hei, I am fine now. I can manage," her words do not match her cold demeanour, "besides we won't make it on time, you won't be able to manage. You don't have to do this."

I chuckle a little. It feels ironic that the monster with the face of my sister seems more humane then what I've become. She tries to force herself off, but I readjust her body and mine with a small hop to get a better grasp.

"Hei."

"Don't." I stop her from continuing and start walking, "You're right, I don't have to do this. Actually the rules state that I should have disposed of you a long time ago."

"That's logical, then why?"

"Because," the clearing is nearly visible. The path is ahead is easy to follow, Amber must have ordered the others to clear the path for the two of us. She is too caring and impulsive, to the point I wander if she really is a Contractor. I smirk as I talk, "I want to. Logics have nothing to do with it. I do it because I want to."

Bai says nothing in response. She is doing that thing again, where she just stands silently. Her arms that were protesting to be let off, are now embracing neck ever slightly, her head resting on the flat surface between my shoulder blades.

"Onii-chan," she speaks softly.

This time, I hear it clearly. It is enough to make me want to cry. But I cannot, I have forgotten how to. No tears will ever escape the dead eyes of the Grim Reaper.

Three days pass quickly, and our group make its way to the rendezvous point without a fuss. Amber was surprising quiet during the trip, which makes me suspicious about the events to come. As we close in everyone becomes alert. The arousing smell of freshly spilt blood is traveling along the tropical winds. We hasten our pace, over the hill where the campsite of our allies should be set up.

I make it up the hill first and I see nothing, nothing but the mysterious red mist and clouds of dust. Just then, I see a small figure in the epicentre of the chaos. As I'm about to run down to identify the suspect, Amber grabs my sleeve from the back and holds me back.

"I've got a bad feeling," she says, her grip getting firmer, "it'd be best to wait until it becomes clear. That would be best if the person down there is who I think it is."

There is a tone of fear and anxiousness in her voice. Whoever it is, the person down there is strong enough to make the infamous UB-001 nervous.

"You can come down from there UB-001," a feminine voice calls out from the mist.

Amber's grip tightens, and then finally let goes of my sleeve.

"So it really is you then, JT-023," Amber says in a stern voice.

She heads towards the bottom of the hill, towards the red mist. Rest of the group and I follow not too far behind and enter the enigmatic cloud. The air is sticky and tastes like iron. Such familiar taste, I recognize it immediately and close my mouth and place my hand in front of Bai's. Upon closer inspection of the ground, I notice that there are bodies everywhere, numbers increasing as we march through. I try to contain my disgust as I trudge over the corpse.

"Stop," Amber signals. She is facing towards the direction where the mist is at its thickets, "the way you do it is disgusting as ever."

"It's not like I enjoy it," the voice replies back. The mist starts to dissipate, revealing the face of a thin girl. Her hair is orange-red, like the bleached sky of setting sun. Her jade green eyes show a bit of amusement. "Welcome, Amber."

"Havoc," Amber answers apathetically at the red haired girl. The girl named "Havoc" stands silently without response, staring hungrily at the fountain of blood, her masterpiece.


	5. Chapter 5

_He watches from his deathly throne, commanding over Life and Death. He is not a bearer of ill will or a messenger of the good. He simply observes the stars and waits patiently. When the time comes he swiftly swings his massive scythe and harvests the lives rightly due to him. He then goes back to his throne – a majestic throne made of flesh and blood – and watches as the stars fall like tear drops._

_- Soir__é__e Rose, 54_

Havoc is what Amber called the red-headed woman that stood at the epicenter of the mess. The bloody mist sinks into the ground, dying the green grass and colorless corpse red.

There is at least a good twenty dead bodies all around her, all of them dead without a single wound. They look like mummies, not because they were covered in bandages and rotten, but were extremely dehydrated. Not a simple dehydration from lack of water either – no it was more like the liquid matter inside them were forcefully pulled out.

"You were late so we kind of started without you," the jade-eyed contractor says nonchalantly as she walks towards Amber. She steps on the arm of a corpse lying in front of her, making a disgusting sound of dry flesh crunching under her heel. "Not that it matters anyway."

"So it seems," replies Amber with a grin.

I can tell by that grin that Amber is in an uncomfortable situation. Rather, it is Havoc herself that's making Amber uncomfortable. Truth be told, I feel the same – maybe worse – so I can understand why.

While the situation itself is not the ideal first impression but it's not just that. This is a battlefield after all, battles are fought and corpses of enemy are left to rot (not that Contractors bury their comrades either). Her appearance showed no malice or did she look cynical in anyway like a TV villain. If anything, she looked too normal.

Indeed, it is her "normal," almost human like appearance in this place of abnormality that creates this nauseating contrast. It is quite different from Bai. Bai looks like a mannequin out on display with her cold plastic expression. But the enigmatic contractor had more organic feel of aloofness, like ignoring a stray cat in the street.

"Oh, so I'm assuming you're the one they call the Reaper," Havoc asks looking at me. There is no curiosity in her eyes, she is just pointing out a fact. "Younger than I thought you'd be. And the one standing behind you, who might that be?"

As I'm about to answer, Amber raises her hand.

_Stop, _she signals and answers Havoc, "That would be BK-201. The two of them are under my care. I hope you understand what that means."

"That's too bad," is all she says, not batting a brow.

Amber stares coldly while Bai takes shelter behind me, only adding to my discomfort. The casual answer holds no malice but I am afraid of knowing the meaning hiding behind those words. I can't grasp what it is but

"Your remuneration?"

"Already taken care of," Havoc replies, pointing aimlessly at the mass she just slaughtered.

Amber takes a breath in and bites her lower lip before asking the next question.

"And your team?"

Havoc doesn't say and only points back to the same heap of bodies on the ground.

_Ah, so that's it. _

The missing piece of puzzle for my discomfort pops itself into place. A single word sticks out in the mix of emotions that runs through my head: Fear. For Havoc there are no allies or foes. She is, after all, Havoc – the walking personification of destruction. Much like a tornado or an earthquake, there is no need for distinction or discrimination, there is only thing that determines whether you live or die: Range. Stay in it if you want to die and stay out if you want to live – very simple.

"JT-023 will merge into my group and I will take the role as the group leader. Is that clear," Amber orders with a stern voice.

No objections are said – after all, it's only logical.

As I round up my gear I notice a glare of a hunting knife by my right foot. The inscription embedded into the side of the blade indicated it is one of ours. The knife lies beside the body of a small child that probably hasn't seen his thirteenth birthday. His eyes are still open, as if he saw his death coming and fear took hold of his heart. Underneath him is a pool of blood.

"Odd," I mutter under my breath. "All the other bodies appear as if they were drained of blood, why is he the only one with blood?"

His attire is also a mystery. On him are strange clothes, possibly those of a local tribe, and is adorned with accessories that are not suited for battle.

I reach for his neck to look for a clue as to what organization he belonged to but my fingers stumble into a tiny slit instead. I turn the boy's head and see a cut about two inches in length and about three quarter inches into the neck over and into the carotid artery. An expertly done cut with a blade, the boy would have died in a matter of moments as blood profusely spilt from his neck.

"Let it go," Amber says from behind me. I must have been pretty drawn into the wound as I didn't notice her splashy steps trenching through the muddy ground.

"Do you know anything about this?" I ask, wiping my hand of the cooling blood, "He isn't a soldier. What is a civilian doing here?"

"It's better if you don't know," is how she dodges the question.

"But that-."

"Hei!" she cries out my name and pulls me in.

"Never let Havoc and Bai out of your sight," she whispers and walks away.

The rest of the group follows Amber and looks for a suitable camping ground. I crouch down little, just enough to shut the little boy's eyes, and get back up to rejoin my group.

After a few minutes of running I can see them setting up camp by a tiny stream, just out of clear line of sight and into the woods. The group had already settled and is beginning to set up camp. Bai is with Amber gathering water in canteens. At times like these when I look at the two, with their tiny build and frail looking demeanor, I wonder if I'm dreaming a cruel dream or is God more sick and twisted than some believe.

_Crunch, _the sound of twigs breaking wakes me up. I can see Havoc off into some deeper part of the woods trying to find some dry wood for fire. Stumbling around on the even grounds she doesn't seem like the athletic type much like Amber and Bai. In her arms are a pathetic looking pile of twigs, most of them unusable for a fire. Remembering Amber's words, I approach her and begin picking up dry wood.

"Oh, thanks," Havoc says noticing me, "I never really had a knack for the outdoors."

"It's fine," I reply in a dry voice, "Why don't you go on a head, I'll stay back and get some more."

She simply nods and as she is about to head back to the camp Havoc turns back around and asks, "Is BK-201 your sister?"

I become stiff from surprise.

"I see," Havoc says, "Then make sure you keep your eye on her."

"Why?"

The twigs I collected drop as I reach for my blade behind my back.

"No need for alarm," she says, raising her arms, "just a suggestion. You guys are family after all. I'm just saying you two have quite the name for yourselves and a few people may have taken interest."

"Such as yourself," I ask with my guard up.

"No, at least not at the moment," Havoc says, "I'll be heading back now, but before I go, let me tell you just one more thing."

"What?" I bark.

"I'd watch out for her if I were you," says Havoc and walks back to the camp.

"For who?" I call out to her, not sure if she heard me.

She turns her head slightly and I can see her brows gathering towards the center. Her usual aloof aura is killed off by the awfully serious stare she gives me. She doesn't speak; she doesn't want the other person to hear her name. I read the lips moving their silent language and a jolt of electricity run through my spine.

AMBER

It seems the surprised look on my face is enough for her to understand that I got the message.

I try to shake the shock out of my system. Even though I know there is no way that Amber could be a threat to Bai, somehow I can't shake off the possibility. Although the message is from a complete stranger and is unreliable, why is it that I can't get rid of this cloud of guilt that hover over my chest. I bite my lower lip, enough for blood to sip out, and get the blood flowing again. The pain snaps me out temporarily from my numb, doubtful state – long enough to notice the knifeless sheath that hung around Havoc's waist.


End file.
